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France, Sahel
France's secret plans for Sahel military withdrawal

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“The Sahel threatened by a jihadist tornado”

Sahel

The Sahel threatened by a jihadist tornado

As the Sahel security crisis worsens, with Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) increasingly active, the states in the region find themselves in an ever more vulnerable position. In an attempt to stem the flow of jihadist propaganda which now risks overflowing into the coastal states, a number of security operations have been launched, among them Operation Barkhane, the G5 Sahel joint force, MINUSMA, and the Coalition for the Sahel. [...]

French President Emmanuel Macron visiting Gao, northern Mali. © Christophe Petit Tesson/Pool/Abacapress.com

Emmanuel Macron is expected to announce a small troop decrease in February, while behind the scenes there are several withdrawal options at play, some that would have France's Barkhane force halved by the end of 2021. [...]

Published on 15/01/2021 at 06:00 GMT Reading time 3 minutes

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Defence, Diplomacy

Read this article in our running story

“The Sahel threatened by a jihadist tornado”

Sahel

The Sahel threatened by a jihadist tornado

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Barkhane
Coalition for the Sahel
CPCO
Djimet Adoum
Emmanuel Macron
Florence Parly
G5 Sahel
Philippe Susnjara
Takuba
United Nations Security Council

Djibouti, France
French PM Castex to spend Christmas in the Horn

The French prime minister Jean Castex, who was in Chad last Christmas, will spend this year's celebration in Djibouti with France's 1500 troops based there.

Subscribers only Politics 22.11.2021

French Prime Minister Jean Castex spent New Year's Eve on January 31, 2020, in N'Djamena, Chad, with Barkhane soldiers.

Algeria, France, Sahel
Barkhane command forced to modify routes after Algeria closes airspace to French military

Since Algeria banned their overflights on 2 October, military aircraft participating in France's Operation Barkhane in the Sahel have had to change their routes.

Subscribers only Diplomacy 05.10.2021

Sahel
Head of Sahel Coalition selects his team

Installed in Brussels since September, the secretary-general of the Coalition for the Sahel, the Chadian diplomat Djimet Adoum, recently appointed his main advisers.

Subscribers only Diplomacy 01.10.2021

Chad, Sahel
Chad feels let down by EU and France as it battles on the Sahel and Libyan fronts

As it ramps up its air operations against rebel groups in Libya at the same time as battling in the Sahel amid France's military drawdown there, Chad reckons France and the EU are falling short in their support.

Subscribers only Diplomacy 07.07.2021

Chadian leader Mahamat Idriss Deby and French President Emmanuel Macron ahead of the state funeral of late Chadian president Idriss Deby in N'Djamena, Chad, 23 April 2021.

France, Sahel
Mali and operation Barkhane to dominate French defence council talks

On 9 June, Emmanuel Macron will host a small defence council at the Elysée Palace to discuss France's military cooperation with Mali.

Subscribers only Diplomacy 09.06.2021

France
A new director for the African department of the French Ministry of Armed Forces

Director of the Africa department of the international relations and strategy department of the French Ministry of Armed Forces, DGRIS, since 2019, Colonel Bruno Pithois is about to step down.

Subscribers only Diplomacy 08.06.2021

Sahel
Who will be next in command of France's Operation Barkhane?

France's defence staff has picked a successor to General Marc [...]

Subscribers only Diplomacy 06.05.2021

France, Ivory Coast
French Foreign Legion to return to Abidjan

Barely two years after last being dispatched to Ivory Coast, France's 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment, the elite airborne unit of the French Foreign Legion, will be back in Abidjan this coming September.

Subscribers only Defence, Diplomacy 08.04.2021

Sahel
Top Sahel Coalition official to tour region

Djimet Adoum, the newly installed high representative of the Coalition for the Sahel, starts his first tour of the region on 5 March, accompanied by France's Sahel envoy Frédéric Bontems.

Subscribers only Diplomacy 05.03.2021

Sahel
3,000-strong African Union force in Sahel abandoned

The project spearheaded by the African Union's former peace and security commissioner Smaïl Chergui to create a pan-African force of 3,000 men looks like being dropped by his successor Bankole Adeoye, who is nevertheless keen for the AU to play a central role in the Sahel as France prepares for a "substantial" troop withdrawal this summer.

Subscribers only Diplomacy 19.02.2021

Ghana
Akufo-Addo's Sahelian agenda

The current holder of the ECOWAS rotating chair, Ghanaian president Nana Akufo-Addo, is intending to make the Sahel a central priority of his term at the helm of the regional organisation at a time when jihadist groups are extending their networks into countries lying on the west African coast.

Subscribers only Diplomacy 18.02.2021

President of the Republic of Ghana Nana Akufo-Addo.

Sahel, United States
Barbaricum and Yorktown prepare US special forces for their Sahel deployment

Defence service providers Barbaricum and Yorktown will help acclimatise US special forces before they head to the Sahel.

Subscribers only Defence, Politics 26.01.2021

Burkina Faso, France
Kaboré's turn to meet Macron to discuss Sahel

After presidents Mohamed Ould Ghazouani of Mauritania, Idriss Déby of Chad and Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger visited Emmanuel Macron in Paris, it's now Roch Marc Christian Kaboré's turn

Subscribers only Diplomacy 22.01.2021

Burkinabe President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in December 2018.

Mali
Behind-doors negotiations over next MINUSMA chief

The arrival of the Biden administration should help rekindle talks for a replacement of the current MINUSMA head, Mahamat Saleh Annadif, whose mandate ends in April. Paris and Washington have been bickering over the matter for months.

Subscribers only Diplomacy 21.01.2021

Sahel, United Kingdom
Brexit, troubled economy won't stop UK aid to the Sahel

As the UK continues to grapple with the economic criris triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic and the fallout of its exit from the EU, the Foreign Office chose to maintain its financial support to Sahel region aid.

Subscribers only Diplomacy 12.01.2021

Sahel
Déby paves way to take over G5 Sahel leadership

Idriss Déby has set up a task force to steer the G5 Sahel ahead of Chad's assumption of the regional bloc's rotating chair next month, when the country will also host a summit meeting.

Subscribers only Diplomacy 06.01.2021

Chadian President Idriss Déby at the June 2020 G5 Sahel summit in Mauritania.

Sahel
Who will lead the Coalition for the Sahel?

There is every chance it will be a Chadian diplomat at the helm of the Coalition for the Sahel as it prepares to relocate from Paris to Brussels after its launch in January at the G5 Sahel summit in Pau.

Subscribers only Diplomacy 23.12.2020

France, West Africa
Paris issues fresh tender for Barhkane logistics

Bolloré's competitors now have until mid-January to eat into the French giant's transportation action in West Africa after France re-issued a request for bids it had abandoned.

Subscribers only Defence, Politics 21.12.2020

France, West Africa
Bolloré gets a free run on contract to supply French troops in Barkhane and Sabre operations

By setting particularly short deadlines on tender calls for French army transport contracts in West Africa, France has pulled the rug from under the feet of potential competitors of the existing contractor, Bolloré group, which should thus be able to continue to provide its services.

Subscribers only Defence, Politics 15.12.2020

Spotlight | United States
Will Biden end Trump's line-in-the-sand diplomacy in the Sahel?

The US president-elect Joe Biden already has his diplomats working on what position they will take in the Sahel, a contrast to months of blocked negotiations with the Trump administration.

Subscribers only Diplomacy 01.12.2020

The US president-elect Joe Biden and the future secretary of state, Antony Blinken.

France
Macron and key ministers to discuss path ahead for the Sahel

A small defence committee will be meeting today, 4 November, to review the evolving situation in the Sahel region. Discussions should focus on Mali and the future of the 5,100 soldiers deployed under Operation Barkhane.

Subscribers only Diplomacy 04.11.2020

France, Sahel
As presidential election nears, Macron worries of risk of politicising Operation Barkhane

With just over a year to go before the presidential election, and in light of the events of recent weeks, the French public is starting to take more notice of the country's military presence in the Sahel region.

Subscribers only Politics 13.10.2020

French President Emmanuel Macron (C) and Mali's President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita (C-R) visit the troops of France's Barkhane counter-terrorism operation in Sahel region in Gao, northern Mali, 19 May 2017.

Central Africa, West Africa
Paris plans to downsize Operation Barkhane

Following the death of 13 French soldiers in Mali on 25 November, Paris is bringing forward plans, under consideration since September, to downsize its operations.

Subscribers only Defence, Diplomacy 18.12.2019

On our other sites

Defence innovation agency's Sauron project irks French mini-drone players

The French defence innovation agency's Sauron project, intended to help the ministry of armed forces catch up in the field of drones, is the perfect illustration of the nagging problem of how to finance these technologies.

Subscribers only Intelligence Online 18.02.2021

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Barkhane
Coalition for the Sahel
CPCO
Djimet Adoum
Emmanuel Macron
Florence Parly
G5 Sahel
Philippe Susnjara
Takuba
United Nations Security Council

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France, Sahel France's secret plans for Sahel military withdrawal

The Sahel threatened by a jihadist tornado

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The Sahel threatened by a jihadist tornado

Set up email notifications for these topics

Djibouti, France French PM Castex to spend Christmas in the Horn

Algeria, France, Sahel Barkhane command forced to modify routes after Algeria closes airspace to French military

Sahel Head of Sahel Coalition selects his team

Chad, Sahel Chad feels let down by EU and France as it battles on the Sahel and Libyan fronts

France, Sahel Mali and operation Barkhane to dominate French defence council talks

France A new director for the African department of the French Ministry of Armed Forces

Sahel Who will be next in command of France's Operation Barkhane?

France, Ivory Coast French Foreign Legion to return to Abidjan

Sahel Top Sahel Coalition official to tour region

Sahel 3,000-strong African Union force in Sahel abandoned

Ghana Akufo-Addo's Sahelian agenda

Sahel, United States Barbaricum and Yorktown prepare US special forces for their Sahel deployment

Burkina Faso, France Kaboré's turn to meet Macron to discuss Sahel

Mali Behind-doors negotiations over next MINUSMA chief

Sahel, United Kingdom Brexit, troubled economy won't stop UK aid to the Sahel

Sahel Déby paves way to take over G5 Sahel leadership

Sahel Who will lead the Coalition for the Sahel?

France, West Africa Paris issues fresh tender for Barhkane logistics

France, West Africa Bolloré gets a free run on contract to supply French troops in Barkhane and Sabre operations

Spotlight | United States Will Biden end Trump's line-in-the-sand diplomacy in the Sahel?

France Macron and key ministers to discuss path ahead for the Sahel

France, Sahel As presidential election nears, Macron worries of risk of politicising Operation Barkhane

Central Africa, West Africa Paris plans to downsize Operation Barkhane

Defence innovation agency's Sauron project irks French mini-drone players

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Senegal
Guns and oil drive Russia's Dakar courtship

Botswana, South Africa
From Gaborone to Antwerp, is De Beers's empire on the rocks?

France, Sahel
France's secret plans for Sahel military withdrawal

Djibouti, France
French PM Castex to spend Christmas in the Horn

Algeria, France, Sahel
Barkhane command forced to modify routes after Algeria closes airspace to French military

Sahel
Head of Sahel Coalition selects his team

Chad, Sahel
Chad feels let down by EU and France as it battles on the Sahel and Libyan fronts

France, Sahel
Mali and operation Barkhane to dominate French defence council talks

France
A new director for the African department of the French Ministry of Armed Forces

Sahel
Who will be next in command of France's Operation Barkhane?

France, Ivory Coast
French Foreign Legion to return to Abidjan

Sahel
Top Sahel Coalition official to tour region

Sahel
3,000-strong African Union force in Sahel abandoned

Ghana
Akufo-Addo's Sahelian agenda

Sahel, United States
Barbaricum and Yorktown prepare US special forces for their Sahel deployment

Burkina Faso, France
Kaboré's turn to meet Macron to discuss Sahel

Mali
Behind-doors negotiations over next MINUSMA chief

Sahel, United Kingdom
Brexit, troubled economy won't stop UK aid to the Sahel

Sahel
Déby paves way to take over G5 Sahel leadership

Sahel
Who will lead the Coalition for the Sahel?

France, West Africa
Paris issues fresh tender for Barhkane logistics

France, West Africa
Bolloré gets a free run on contract to supply French troops in Barkhane and Sabre operations

Spotlight | United States
Will Biden end Trump's line-in-the-sand diplomacy in the Sahel?

France
Macron and key ministers to discuss path ahead for the Sahel

France, Sahel
As presidential election nears, Macron worries of risk of politicising Operation Barkhane

Central Africa, West Africa
Paris plans to downsize Operation Barkhane